Punch Up: “To Me My ❌-Men”
Chapter Forty:
1986
July, 1986 Alpha Flight No. 40 by Ross, Portacio, Sharen, Novak, Mantlo + Potts
June, 1986 New Mutants by Guice, Windsor-Smith, Baker, E. Lee, Orzechowski, Claremont + Nocenti
Mixtape tracks: We Want Some Pussy by The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are; & Oh L’Amour by Erasure
*DIY Marvel Two-In-One
Chapter 40 of “to me my ❌-Men,” a breezy Two-In-One off the spinner rack, reveals proto-Silvestri vibes from unlikely places.
Previously on “to me my ❌-Men,” WandaVision & Wonder Man bring us the future, with Billy & Tommy’s birth. We had flipped generational narratives between ❌-Factor and New Mutants, and we had spent time with Alpha Flight, while also checking in Power Pack & The ❌-Men.
Here we begin to do the same with a proper Marvel 25th Anniversary issue cover and a Barry Windsor-Smith cover.
Whilce Portacio inks after having done so on a handful of Alien Legion, Longshot, and Uncanny No. 201. He will not be the only Image Comics founder to develop his skills working on Alpha Flight.
Alpha Flight and the Avengers are under the ocean, searching for Marrina. We open with Namor’s desperation.
They find her transforming, as she is about to mate with a sea creature of sorts. After the rescue, Namor and Marrina are married.
That’s it.
That’s the comic.
But wait we have one more!
In a refreshingly contemporary splash page that balances a cartoonists sensibility and the art of converting photography to line art, Guice & Baker present an opening of light intensity. “Muir Isle…” we follow the text down the left side, Rahne rushes in from the bottom left, as the eye moves through a stylized iconic cartoon Legion to a full page Moira, and we noticed the off kilter massive piece of equipment approaches her head. At its point of break, credits. Title: “RUNAWAY!”
Rahne’s attempt to save Moira, puts both of them in danger, but David unleashes Jack Wayne, and he telekinetically holds the object mid air and causes it to explode in its protective physic bubble. SKA BOOM!
Across the pond, Dani has returned to school. Lounged in a Muppet Scooter T, Levi’s and sock. She awakes floating above her bed, hitting her head, having dreamt the events that happened in Scotland. She calls Rahne in a panic.
Dani is out of it, but I think it is an excuse to draw 80’s goth teen shots. She stumbles through the school in search for Illyana. The panels at time seem proto Silvestri and Portacio in one.
Dani stumbles in on Illyana in the most awkward of times…she is a full on horned demon and has giant serpent sea monster in her room. This gurl is into som kinky shit.
Illyana: “You scared me.”
Dani: “I scared you?!!?”
Dani has a special psychic report with Rahne, so the Mutants are assembling based on this felling Dani has.
Sam with his Lila world tour shirt, Berto in his Playboy Mansion get up, Doug, Xuân, Amara all looking basic just got out of bed in a rush.
Maggie will be back tomorrow…so after a discussion about who is going…Doug sets off to leave a note. Because that always ends up being totally sufficient.
Bobby is scared to go, but to macho to admit what everyone is telling him to his face is painfully obvious. Dani is being sacrificial, which Illyana is calling her out on and X’uân is backing her up on. Bobby is obviously scared of going through Limbo to get anywhere.
We get a Sienkiewicz like shot of them arriving in Miur Island. Berto is dressed for strolling on the boardwalk. The rest of the team is dressed for superheroing. Warlock is dressed to Warlock.
They find Rahne in a destroyed lab.
Warlock transports them as a sea vessel to Ullapool docks. These pages are all a joy.
They look around the village following Rahne’s sent. They need to find David and restore either him or Jemail to dominance over his mind. When:
Warlock: “ALARM — human lifeform moving at extreme velocity.”
A man comes crashing out of a storefront window.
We are in a classic ❌-Men bar scene…only no Logan.
Jack is holding court. Karma attempts to control him, but one of his new flirts smashes a bottle over her head and he begins to toy with her body.
Sam flys into Jack.
The cops show. Rahne rescues them from an explosion in their vehicle.
Warlock puts Cypher in him. And is an animated Hannah Barbara style superhero robot.
These pages really are like a Silvestri page. I’ll get into this more, when we actually get to his era….but this is how I like my Marvel comics.
The secret is is the gestural quality and small size of the action figures.
Jack has had enough.
He ignites the spot.
And this leaves Reverend Craig there to preach! “DEMONS!”
Rahne’s cult leader foster parent really has timing down.
Jack is looking full on Whilce Portacio drawing at the size that Marc Silvestri would draw him…again this is Jackson Guice and Kyle Baker before Silvestri and Portacio are really doing this.
Jack has gone full Machismo…so Sunspot who was reluctant to travel…matches him el mono. In his Sunspot form he simply squeezes the ranting Legion.
And then Magik turns into a demon again scares the crap out of Jack.
David takes control after that. David: “I’ve been bad again, Haven’t I? Is everything all right now? May I go home please?…Are you friends?”
There is a nice postmortem page discussing Legions agency over his personalities and questions of how far Rahne is willing to go to achieve her strict sense of morality.
Next: Marvel Comics Presents Daredevil Uncanny ❌-Men
